60 years Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands

WILLEMSTAD - Today it’s the celebration of the Kingdom Day. The countries forming the Dutch Kingdom commemorate the fact that 60 years ago Queen Juliana signed the Charted for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch: Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; in Papiamentu: Statuut pa e Reino di Hulanda) describes the political relationship between the four different countries which form the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten in the Caribbean and the Netherlands (for the most part) in Europe.

It is the leading legal document of the Kingdom. The Constitution of the Netherlands and the Basic Laws of the three other countries are legally subordinate to the Charter. The first version of the Charter, which described the relationship between the Netherlands, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles, was signed by the Queen on December 15, 1954.

The government will celebrate this special day with a ceremony at the monument representing the autonomy of the islands. Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles will be the guest speaker. Prime Ministers of Aruba and Sint Maarten are also special guests of the Prime Minister of Curaçao.

The festivities are concentrated around young people. A special creative program was prepared for them.